Federal judge bars enforcement of Nebraska corporate farm ban pending high court appeal News
Federal judge bars enforcement of Nebraska corporate farm ban pending high court appeal

[JURIST] A federal judge in Nebraska ruled Friday that the state cannot enforce a 25-year old ban on corporate farming while it appeals a US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeal decision ruling the ban unconstitutional. As anticipated [JURIST report], Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning [official website] appealed [cert. petition, PDF] the ruling to the US Supreme Court earlier this month.

In December, the Eighth Circuit upheld [PDF text; JURIST report] a lower court decision holding the 1982 voter-endorsed ban on corporate farming unconstitutional because it violates the dormant commerce clause. As described by the appeals court, the ban "prohibits corporations or syndicates (non-family-owned limited partnerships) from acquiring an interest in 'real estate used for farming or ranching in [Nebraska]' or 'engag[ing] in farming or ranching,' with certain exceptions," and the appeals court found that this "discriminates against out-of-state entities both on its face and because of its discriminatory intent." AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

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